Trump Wants to be the Focus: Walter on Trump, Harris

THE COOK POLITICAL REPORT. IT'S GREAT TO SEE YOU, WELCOME BACK. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING YESTERDAY WATCHING THIS, FOR A CAMPAIGN WE WERE TOLD WOULD BE MORE DISCIPLINED AND MORE EFFICIENT, THEY WERE MEASURING THE DRAPES IN MILWAUKEE, WHAT ARE WE DOING NOW? AMY: THAT'S RIGHT. WE SAW SOME EARLY INDICATION IT WOULD BE VERY DIFFICULT FOR TRUMP TO REMAIN AS DISCIPLINED AND ON MESSAGE EVEN IN MILWAUKEE. YOU RECALL HIS ACCEPTANCE SPEECH WAS A LITTLE LONG, A LITTLE RAMBLING, MORE IMPORTANT IT LOST THE TREND OF THE MESSAGE. HE WENT IN AND OUT OF HIS SORT OF TRADITIONAL GRIEVANCE, HIS FRUSTRATIONS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN 2020, THAT THE ELECTION WAS STOLEN, THAT NANCY PELOSI IS CRAZY, ALL OF THAT. BUT IT DIDN'T MATTER AS MUCH BECAUSE THE FOCUS WAS ON BIDEN AND BIDEN WAS HIS AGE AND HIS PERFORMANCE AT THE DEBATE WAS EVERYTHING. NOW THAT BIDEN IS NO LONGER IN THE PICTURE, THE FOCUS GOES BACK TO DONALD TRUMP OR AT LEAST DONALD TRUMP WANTS TO BE THE FOCUS AGAIN. I THINK HE'S FRUSTRATED THAT MEDIA ATTENTION IS GOING TO NOT JUST KAMALA HARRIS AND TIM WALZ INTO THE FACT THEY ARE BRAND-NEW TICKET, TAKING THE RALLIES LIVE, SHOWING THESE LONG LINES OF PEOPLE WAITING TO GET INTO THE RALLIES. I REMEMBER WHEN HARRIS WAS I GUESS PICKED, SHALL WE SAY, WHEN THE PRESIDENT ENDORSED HER RIGHT AFTER HE ANNOUNCED HE WASN'T RUNNING AGAIN AND A NUMBER OF DEMOCRATS SAID TO ME, ONE THING HARRIS REALLY CAN DO IS GET UNDER DONALD TRUMP'S SKIN. THAT WOULD BE ONE OF HER BIGGEST STRENGTHS. AND INDEED, AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE PRESS CONFERENCE, SHE HAS. JOE: WELL, SO MUCH SO HE WANTS TO DO THREE DEBATES ALL OF A SUDDEN. AMY: THAT'S RIGHT. JOE: HE'S TAKING AN INTERESTING APPROACH TO HER RUNNING MATE AS WELL. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT STOLEN VALOR THIS WEEK. VERY HEADY ACCUSATIONS, J.D. VANCE SAYING TIM WALZ ABANDON HIS BROTHERS IN ARMS BEFORE THEY WERE DEPLOYED TO IRAQ WHEN HE DECIDED TO RUN FOR CONGRESS. IT'S PRETTY REMARKABLE. HARRIS DID RESPOND TO THAT LINE OF ATTACK BRIEFLY YESTERDAY AND HERE'S WHAT SHE SAID. >> I THINK WE ALL SHOULD. KAILEY: WE -- JOE: WE SEEM TO BE IN A WORLD WHERE THE HARRIS-WALZ CAMPAIGN WANTS TO STAY ABOVE THIS STUFF AND NOT GET IN THE WEEDS WITH THE DONALD TRUMP. IS THAT THE MOST EFFECTIVE STRATEGY? AMY: I THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WE WILL BE LOOKING FOR IN THESE NEXT 80-HOWEVER MANY DAYS WE HAVE LEFT IN THE CAMPAIGN IS WHO DOES THE BETTER JOB OF DEFINING HARRIS AND WALZ BUT MOSTLY HARRIS, BECAUSE THE VICE PRESIDENT, WHILE IN IMPORTANT FIGURE, IS NOT THE PRINCIPAL AND VOTERS VOTE FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE AND NOT SO MUCH FOR THE VICE PRESIDENT. WHO DEFINES HER AND HOW IS DEFINED? THE GOOD NEWS FOR HARRIS IS RIGHT NOW SHE'S NOT BURDENED BY WHAT HAS BEEN, SO TO SPEAK. SHE IS MORE POPULAR THAN BIDEN RIGHT NOW. SHE'S NOT GETTING AS MUCH OF THE BLOWBACK -- I GUESS HE'S NOT AS MUCH OF AN ANCHOR. THE ECONOMY AND ALL THOSE THINGS NOT AS MUCH OF AN ANCHOR AROUND HER AS BIDEN. PART OF THAT IS SHE ISN'T VERY WELL DEFINED IN THE MINDS OF VOTERS, THEY DON'T KNOW THAT MUCH ABOUT HER. THIS IS WHY YOU SEE THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN SPEND A GREAT DEAL OF TIME ON PAID MEDIA, NOT NECESSARILY WITH THEIR CANDIDATE MOTHER FORMER PRESIDENT, BUT IN PAID MEDIA, GOING AFTER HER RECORD ON IMMIGRATION, GOING AFTER HER OPINIONS AND VIEWS ON POLICE REFORMS, CALLING HER DANGEROUSLY LIBERAL FOR SOME OF THESE POSITIONS. TRYING TO FILL IN THE FULL PICTURE OF HARRIS. HARRIS IS DOING THE SAME, OUT WITH HER OWN AD ON IMMIGRATION SEEING WHEN SHE WAS IN OFFICE IN CALIFORNIA SHE WAS REALLY TOUGH ON BORDER SECURITY AND CRACKING DOWN TRAFFICKERS. THIS SPRINT TO DEFINE HARRIS WILL BE CRITICALLY IMPORTANT IN THE NEXT THING WILL BE WHAT IS THIS RACE ABOUT? THIS IS WHERE TRUMP STILL HAS AN ADVANTAGE IF THE RACE REALLY DOES COME DOWN TO WHO DO YOU THINK WOULD DO A BETTER JOB ON THE ECONOMY, YOU THINK WILL DO A BETTER JOB ON IMMIGRATION AND BORDER SECURITY. TRUMP CONTINUES TO HAVE AN ADVANTAGE THERE. IF IT IS ABOUT DONALD TRUMP, AS WE SAW AT THAT PRESS CONFERENCE, AND WHAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT EARLIER, HE GOES ON THE RETRIBUTION TOUR IN MONTANA INSTEAD OF SPENDING TIME IN A BATTLEGROUND STATE. HE DECIDED TO DEBATE CROWD SIZE INSTEAD OF IMMIGRATION OR INFLATION. IF THAT'S WHERE THIS RACE GOES, THAT IS REALLY GOOD NEWS FOR HARRIS. JOE: JOE BIDEN WILL BE ON STAGE WITH HARRIS NEXT THURSDAY IN MARYLAND, FIRST TIME WE WILL SEE THIS, FOUR DAYS BEFORE THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION. WHO DOES THIS HELP? AMY: THAT'S A REALLY GOOD POINT. IT IS FOUR DAYS BEFORE THE CONVENTION SO WHAT HARRIS IS GOING TO DO IS GO STRAIGHT FROM THERE INTO THE WARM EMBRACE OF HER PARTY INTER PARTES DELEGATES. IT WASN'T LOOKING THAT WAY A MONTH AGO. THE IDEA OF CHICAGO BEING A PLACE OF EXCITEMENT AND ENERGY A MONTH AGO WOULD BE LAUGHABLE AND NOW THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING. I THINK THE CHALLENGE FOR HARRIS IS FINDING ENOUGH DISTANCE FROM BIDEN INTO THE UNPOPULAR STUFF ABOUT BIDEN AND ALSO REMINDING FOLKS ABOUT THE GOOD STUFF THAT THEY CAN SAY THE ADMINISTRATION IS RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING TO THE PUBLIC. THE OTHER THING THAT REALLY STANDS OUT WHEN HARRIS STANDS NEXT TO PRESIDENT BIDEN IS THE FACT THAT SHE DOES LOOK AND SOUND AND ACT VERY DIFFERENTLY FROM HIM AND THIS HAS IN QUITE WORKABLE, EVEN THOUGH SHE'S PART OF THE ACCUMBENS -- INCUMBENT PARTY, SHE IS THE "STATUS QUO," SO TO SPEAK, SHE'S BEEN ABLE TO COME OUT AS A NEW FACE, AS SOMEBODY ABLE TO FLIP THE PAGE AND MOVE ON FROM BIDEN AND TRUMP. BEING ON STAGE WITH BIDEN DOES REMIND VOTERS OH YEAH, SHE STILL PART OF THIS ADMINISTRATION, BUT ALSO REMINDS THEM THAT SHE LOOKS AND SOUNDS VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE PERSON WHO USED TO BE THE NOMINEE. JOE: THE PARTY HAS SUDDENLY TURNED THE PAGE.